Here’s The Pentagon’s Initial Plan For Creating a Space Force

An early draft from the Pentagon has sketched out a possible trajectory for the creation of a Space Force. The plan would see the movement of some service members from the Air Force, Navy, and Army into the force, while excluding “the transfer of [the] strategic intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance mission of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).” Specifically, the draft outlines that the Space Force would absorb pieces of the Air Force Space Command, the Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, the Naval Satellite Operations Center, and the Army’s 1st Space Brigade. The facilities belonging to the transferring components would remain with their respective branches until the Space Force “reaches an appropriate operating capacity” for their integration. Regarding the space capacities of the original branches, the draft indicates that they would “retain organic space capabilities uniquely designated to support that Service’s or organization’s mission.” It further clarifies that the Space Force “will only be responsible for those missions directly associated with joint space operations,” excluding missions that are “tangentially associated with space (e.g. nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles, cyber operations, etc.). The draft does not include funding estimates.

OODA Analyst

OODA is comprised of a unique team of international experts capable of providing advanced intelligence and analysis, strategy and planning support, risk and threat management, training, decision support, crisis response, and security services to global corporations and governments.